[Rowing Machine] 2019: Week 02 {224.5} “Nutrition versus Laziness”

Which is better: a well-balanced breakfast or some snack bar? What main metrics are we considering? Nutrition or time? Are there ways we can make it easier for ourselves to cook efficient breakfasts that will give us sustenance throughout the day? If so, are there are ways we can preemptively prepare food for ourselves throughout the day? Let’s consider how we can reduce mild feelings of sickness, laziness, or tiredness with changes to our routines.

This ado begins with perfecting my coffee morning routine.

I used to have a terrible time with my morning routine. This was before I started writing daily, before getting back into fitness, before Better Zombie, and before I believed in self-improvement as a positive lifestyle choice. I was the victim of circumstance and my coffee brewing habits were the same. I’d sleep in, with no motivation to go to work, let alone start the day, and worst of all, in my tired stupor, I’d try to pour water into the coffee machine, put in the coffee filter with just the right amount of coffee grounds, and press start.

Now I prepare my coffee machine in the evenings.

Sure, the water and coffee grounds are less fresh. It’s just there’s a certain satisfaction in waking up, pressing the coffee machine’s start button, and returning a few minutes later to start slamming down caffeine. I could further automate the process by setting the automatic brewer, but this one’s got a personality – mostly reliable, but there’s a 1% chance it’ll be fiercely ornery. I can relate to that, and more importantly, it hasn’t broken down yet, even after taking it on the road, so I’ll keep using it until it does break down in a few years.

Then I’ll get a better quality, possibly less cranky, machine.

I’m developing similar habits with my rice cooker. After somecasualresearch, it seems less ideal for me to not leave white rice soaking in water overnight, but after I move and thoroughly research cooking methods, I may switch it up. In the meantime, the few necessary morning steps of scooping out rice from the rice bag in my refrigerator, pouring in water, stirring around the rice, then cooking it hasn’t been too complicated. After I move, I’ll do more research, especially after I start using my slow cooker.

This might seem like mainly tedious ado. Here’s the thing:

When we analyze our morning routines to remove ambiguity, or, if we take our lives into our own hands and reroute our internal paths of least resistance, we can make healthier choices for ourselves. I’ve never dreaded rowing, partially because when it’s easy for me to jump into my workout clothes, press “start” on my timer, and get to rowing, there’s less chance for demotivational frustrations. When it’s easier for me to press a few buttons and do a few unambiguous things to make breakfast, it’s more time-efficient than grabbing some snack bar and chowing down.

How can you improve your morning routine?

Endtable:

Quotes: None.

Sources: My fitness experiences.
– This week’s weight: 224.5
– Last week’s weight: 228.0
– Difference: 3.5 pounds seems significant, but to ensure it’s not just a temporal change like water weight, I look more at my average or plateaued weight, which has recently been between 223 and 228 pounds. I hope to progress even further in 2019.

Inspirations: I woke up this morning feeling kinda sick and demotivated. I had already slept in and wasn’t dehydrated. I was just hungry. So rather than grabbing some snack bar, I opted for rice and chili, which helped me feel much better. I wanted to capture this whole seemingly-banal experience in part to express how when we’re tired we don’t make optimal decisions for our health…

Last Edited: This was nearly a “first draft; final draft,” but when I got to the end, I couldn’t conclude it at 500 words decently, so I went back through and did a second pass. Instead of saying “I haven’t yet researched,” I did some casual research, which led into the slow cooker idea, and the freed-up words let me conclude on a stronger note.

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Author: Zombiepaper (Anthony)

My big goal is to write. My important goal is to write "The Story." My proudest moment is the most recent time I overcame a fear, which should have been today. I'm a better zombie than I was yesterday. Let's strive to be better everyday. (Avatar)
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